PokerzinNo single strategy beats everyone the most. A play that profits against one opponent can lose against another. That is why experienced players spend their first hands at a table watching: who plays lots of hands, who only plays good cards, who bets and who just calls. With two simple questions you can fit almost everyone into a profile.
The two questions
- How many hands do they play? Someone who plays few hands is tight. Someone who plays many is loose.
- How do they play those hands? Someone who bets and raises is aggressive. Someone who prefers to check and call is passive.
Crossing the two gives the four classic profiles.
| Passive | Aggressive | |
|---|---|---|
| Tight | Rock | TAG |
| Loose | Calling station | LAG and maniac |
The rock (tight-passive)
Plays few hands and almost never bets without something strong. Folds for hours and, when they finally raise, it is because they have a big hand.
How to play against them: steal their blinds whenever you can, because they fold too much. And respect their strength: when the rock bets big or raises the river, your top pair is probably behind. Folding here is cheap and correct.
The calling station (loose-passive)
Calls almost everything and bets little. Plays many hands, goes to the river with any pair or draw and struggles to fold. The most profitable opponent at the table.
How to play against them: stop bluffing. They will call. Instead, bet your good hands and bet bigger than usual, even with top pair or two pair, because they call with worse. When they finally raise, believe them.
The TAG (tight-aggressive)
Plays few hands, but plays them hard: raises instead of calling, c-bets and applies pressure when they have the edge. It is the style recommended for learners and the most common among good players.
How to play against them: avoid big fights without a good hand. They avoid bad confrontations, so use position: call in position and see if they give up on the turn. And remember that not every c-bet of theirs is a hand: on flops that are bad for the raiser, it is worth calling or raising now and then (see the guide on continuation bets).
The LAG and the maniac (loose-aggressive)
The LAG plays many hands and bets a lot, but with judgment: they know when to stop. The maniac is the version without brakes, who raises and goes all-in with anything.
How to play against them: let them bet for you. With good hands, call instead of raising so they keep bluffing. Widen the hands you go to the end with (a middle pair against a maniac is often the best hand) and don't try to bluff someone who never folds. Expect big swings: against them, pots are bigger.
The signs you can see
At an internet table there are no faces to read, but behavior leaves clues:
- How many hands they play: count how many of the last ten hands they entered the pot. Three or more is loose; one or none is tight.
- Bet sizes: many people bet big with strong hands and small with weak ones, or the reverse. Watch for the pattern.
- Time to decide: a long pause before a big raise is often theater, and an instant call is often a medium hand that never considered raising. It is a weak signal; use it only as a tiebreaker.
- What they showed at showdown: the best information of all. If they went to the end with a low pair, you know they call a lot.
Summary: against players who fold a lot, bet more; against players who call everything, stop bluffing and bet your good hands; against players who bet too much, let them bet. And play tight-aggressive yourself until you know the table.